


Talk To Me, Please

by Tgaret990



Series: Let Me Be There For You [2]
Category: All Elite Wrestling, 新日本プロレス | New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Genre: And both our boys have a bit of a breakdown, Angst with a Happy Ending, Because I can't handle that much angst apparently, Because nothing ever goes according to plan does it?, But I doubt things will be okay going forward, But Kota somehow manages to lift the mood, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reaction to BTE Episode 170: "Fingers Crossed", So Kota's extra worried now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-26 09:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20739977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tgaret990/pseuds/Tgaret990
Summary: Kota sees the next episode of BTE and is not hanging up the phone until Kenny tells him what's really bothering him. Or, you know, until they're both a sobbing mess. That works too.





	Talk To Me, Please

Talk To Me, Please 

A/N: Here’s the next one. It’s a bit more feelsy, and my inner fangirl cried on the inside while I was writing it. Basically, Kenny’s a mess, and Kota’s doing his best to help him through this. Then they both end up a mess. But then it gets better somehow? Even though the logic doesn’t quite make sense? You know what, I’m going to stop typing now… 

  
  


Kota had  **almost** been convinced that things were actually fine this time. Almost. Kenny looked and sounded sincere, like he was slowing putting himself back together, which calmed Kota’s racing heart in the moment. However, when Kenny popped back up on the screen, hysterical and not making sense, Kota felt his stomach drop.  _ I’m just getting started? What the heck was  _ ** _that_ ** _ supposed to mean? _ He knew that things weren’t right last week. He  **knew** that Kenny wasn’t alright… So why didn’t he try harder? Why didn’t he try to get Kenny to explain everything that was bothering him?

He pushed his dinner aside, sat in his kitchen after a hellacious match against Kenta earlier that day. He was sore and battered, but he still held the Right to Challenge contract for Wrestle Kingdom. Once again he called Kenny, and once again he picked up not long after. Kota, however, would not let him get the first word in, parroting his statement back at him in English.

_ “I’m just getting started? _ What’s that supposed to mean, Kenny?”

_ “Well, hello to you too. I was going to congratulate you on your match, but— _

“Don’t try and change the subject,” Kota interrupted. “Don’t tell me it’s just another ‘bit for the show’. I can tell the difference between when you’re acting and when you’re not.” Kenny sighed.

_ “Look, I know I haven’t exactly been myself lately, but I’m— _

“Don’t tell me you’re fine because you’re not. This isn’t like you. You’re not making sense. Just…” Kota put his phone down on the kitchen table on speaker mode, head in between his hands. “Talk to me,  ** _please,”_ ** he whispered brokenly. Kenny’s voice once again trembled as he responded.

_ “Ibu-tan, Kota. Hey. I’m… I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I’m sorry I keep worrying you when you have more important things to think about.” _

“More important things? More important than you?” Both of their voices were shaky now, both of them reaching the end of their rope on holding back the emotions threatening to burst out of them any minute now.

_ “Yes, more important than me. You don’t need me distracting you right now.” _

“Distracting me? Kenny—

_ “Look, I… I’m not okay, alright? Is that what you wanted to hear? I’m a fucking disaster right now. I can’t win matches. I can’t focus on anything. I can’t get myself together. I…” _ Kota heard him sniffle over the line, breath hitching as if holding back a sob.  _ “I’m scared,” _ he finally admitted.  _ “I’m saying things that don’t make sense, forgetting what I was doing, pushing people away, losing time. I don’t—  _

Kota felt his heart shatter at Kenny’s gut wrenching sob, unable to hold back one of his own, trying in vain to wipe the tears spilling from his eyes. Kenny was right. He was a disaster, but Kota wasn’t much better.

“K-Kenny…” What could he say? What could he possibly say to make things better?

_ “I wish you were h-here,” _ Kenny told him.  _ “The only time I f-feel normal is when I’m talking with you. You keep me sane. You’re my light in the darkness. My soulmate. My…” _ He let out another sob, unable to finish the sentence.

“I-I’m in America next week. Maybe…”

_ “I-I don’t know if I’ll be able to make any of the shows. A-And what if… What if I…” _ More sniffles.  _ “What if I do something crazy before I even get there, or after I get there? God, what if I actually lose it? P-People… People say that they think The Cleaner is back, but I knew what I was doing then. This is…” _

Kota had never felt more helpless in his life. He was still booked through the end of the tournament, so he couldn’t just drop everything and fly out to him. But he didn’t have any words that could comfort his lover either. “Kenny, w-we’ll… We’ll get through this, you and me. You don’t have to do this alone.”

_ “But don’t I? Y-You’re in Japan, Kota. You’re booked for the next few weeks. There’s nothing you can do.” _

“I can be here for you, whenever you need me. I-I can keep telling you that everything is going to be okay, even if it’s not. I can keep t-telling you how much I hate when you dye your hair gray because I miss it being blonde.” The last comment got a small laugh out of Kenny.

_ “I-I’m not exactly in a blonde mood if I’m being honest. Gray… Kind of fits how I’m feeling at the moment.” _

“And if I felt like the world was full of darkness and suffering, and decided to dye my hair black, how would you feel?” This got a full blown laugh out of Kenny, whose imagination was no doubt running wild at the moment.

_ “I can just imagine you taking fashion advice from EVIL. Dark eye shadow, dark hair, dark gear. Eyeliner?” _ Kota couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought, deciding to file that idea away for future reference.

“Could I maybe borrow one of your old leather jackets to go with it?”

_ “With the gloves and maybe the shades? Yes, absolutely.” _ They continued laughing at the hilarity of the idea, feeling lighter-hearted than they’d been all week.  _ “But in all seriousness,” _ Kenny continued, no longer laughing, but no longer crying either,  _ “I’m scared about what this could be. Hell, I’m terrified. I just… Don’t know if I can keep it together.” _

“You can because you’re you and you’re strong. You’ve been through much worse than losing to PAC. You’ve had bigger challenges than Moxley. This, whatever it is, is just something else to overcome. When you’re AEW World Champion, you’ll look back and laugh at how much has changed from now.” Kota could hear the smile in Kenny’s reply.

_ “Heh. I guess you’re right.” _

“Just don’t turn into Okada, okay? I thought I might have seen some red in your hair last week…” He tried to sound serious, but was sure he failed towards the end.

_ “What?! Okay, first of all, if I was going to go  _ ** _that_ ** _ much off the deep end, I wouldn’t bring  _ ** _balloons_ ** _ with me to the ring, and I wouldn’t try to make it look like my head was on fire.” _ Kota snickered at that.  _ “Second of all, I would be  _ ** _much_ ** _ better at being sad and pathetic and edgy. I have experience with that, at least.” _ Kota hummed in acknowledgement of the fact. He remembered those times. They both did.

“I don’t want to see you go down that path again,” he told him quietly, voicing one of his thoughts from last week.

_ “And I won’t. Or at least… If I do, it’s not because I decided to make the biggest mistake of my life.” _

“Kenny,” Kota started, knowing where this might lead. It had been a while, but there were still times when Kenny would try to apologize for leaving him to join Bullet Club, and while that would always hurt, Kota was over it.

_ “I know. I know. I think… If I can just step in the ring with Moxley, if I can just finally have the match, or at least get my hands on him, things might get better. And if I lose— _

“You won’t,” Kota responded automatically, drawing a short chuckle from Kenny.

_ “You’re always so confident in me.” _

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked, confused. Kenny chuckled again, almost giddy.

_ “God, I love you,” _ he sighed happily, making Kota’s heart sing.  _ “Okay.  _ ** _When I win,_ ** _ I’ll finally be able to put everything behind me and work my way back to the top. I don’t know if I’ll be blonde again after, but I’ll get rid of the grey and red. How does that sound?” _

“Better. You forgot the part where we celebrate your win. You might have to do some flying, but…”

_ “Seriously?” _

“We’re in California for the weekend and that Monday.”

_ “I can book a flight for after the show, be there in the morning. We can spend the day together before the next show.” _ The two continued excitedly talking about what they could do that weekend, until Kota yawned loudly. He checked the time to see that it was well past midnight and into the early morning. Kenny sighed.  _ “You must be exhausted. Get some sleep, Ibu-tan. I  _ ** _promise_ ** _ I’ll call if something serious happens.” _

“Are you sure?”

_ “Positive. And Kota? I love you, so much.” _ Kota smiled.

“I love you too, Kenny.” He hung up and Kota turned his phone off, stifling another yawn. Kenny still wasn’t okay, not by a long shot, but he had talked about it. He just needed to get to AEW’s next pay-per-view, or maybe just get his hands on Moxley beforehand. Kota was still worried out of his mind, but after the tone shift in their call, he thought he might just be able to rest easier that night.

  
  


Closing A/N: Hmm… That didn’t end how I expected it to. Not a bad thing though. It was getting a bit too angsty for my tastes anyway. I wonder what new creative genius Kenny might pull on tomorrow’s episode? Also, I know that Kenny flying out right after a PPV is probably illogical and not likely to happen because he’s an EVP and has other responsibilities, but fight me, okay?


End file.
